UAE Arrests Group Accused Of Planning To Re-Establish Muslim Brotherhood

UAE media is reporting that officials in the UAE have arrested members of what is described as a cell controlled by Qatari intelligence that was attempting to re-establish the Muslim Brotherhood presence in the country as well as planning to aid an Al Qaeda linked group in Syria. According to the report:

Al-Islah

July 9, 2014 Abu Dhabi: A Qatari cell, said to have been operating in the UAE under the direct supervision of Qatari intelligence, has been smashed, Gulf News has learnt. ‘

A group of Qatari men, directly overseen and controlled by the Qatari intelligence was arrested in the UAE,’ a senior official told Gulf News.

The official added the cell had been attempting to re-establish Al Islah group, linked to Egypt’s terrorist designated Muslim Brotherhood.

Al Islah was disbanded after more than 65 people accused of plotting an Islamist coup in the UAE were handed prison terms — some up to 15 years — last year.

Twenty six of the defendants were acquitted.

The official said the Qatari cell had also been planning to recruit members and raise money for Jabhat Al Nusra, an Al Qaida-linked rebel group in Syria fighting troops loyal to President Bashar Al Assad.

The GMBDW reported in March that a court in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) had sentenced thee individuals to prison terms of up to seven years on various charges relating to aiding and abetting the Muslim Brotherhood in the UAE.

The GMBDW reported in January that thirty men were sentenced to prison on charges of establishing and running a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood in the UAE.

The GMBDW reported in November 2013 that UAE had launched a trial of 30 Emiratis and Egyptians charged with setting up an illegal branch of the Muslim Brotherhood.

The GMBDW reported in July 2013 that 65 suspects charged by the UAE authorities on similar charges of setting up an illegal branch of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood had received sentences of up to 15 years.

A post from June 2013 reported that 30 Egyptians and Emiratis had been charged in connection with that case.

In January 2013, the UAE announced that it would try 94 people on charges of trying to seize power in that country.

Relevant resources include:

In April, the Gulf News posted an article titled “Rise and fall of Muslim Brotherhood in UAE” that provides interesting detail about the operations of the Muslim Brotherhood in that country.

In October 2013, Egyptian journalist Abdel Latif el-Menawy published an article titled “From Refuge To Rebellion, The Gulf’s Muslim Brotherhood” that looks at the history of the Muslim Brotherhood in the Gulf countries and its relationship to the Egyptian organization.

The New York Times reported in January 3013 on the continuing conflict between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.